Android smartphones

>>917723
You can't really dismantle and part them out because its all surface mount. If you can invent a smelter that can melt them down and separate all the minerals out into nice tidy piles you will be wealthy.

Also batteries, most are disposable by design so power supply is a problem down the line. Planned obsolescence they call it. then again, watching the degradation of windows retro tech may become more valuable as spook and backdoor hardware becomes more ingrained in the industry. These are sad days for tech really.

>>917741
Yeah. I meant, hardware hacking as in using the hardware for things that were not their original purpose, but you don't even need to dismantle them to do something useful, you can take a phone and use them for other things without even touching the internal parts.

As I said, you need to root them most of the time. Even then, looks you can run a fake root and run programs:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=champion.gnuroot.wheezy&hl=en

The idea of this post was to find useful things to do with the phones.
I'll be posting videos and news articles about this.

So, what can be done with android hardware?
To start, you can find a shitload of ideas by simply googling:
https://www.google.com/search?q=creative+uses+android+hardware+or+phones+or+tablets

One can connect the phones in a network, through USB ("reverse USB tethering": https://android.stackexchange.com/a/6480 ), and use them to process data in real time, from pics, videos or whatever. The phones could be used as wireless APs for small rooms, and even used to locate people in a small room, something like
http://www.securecare.com/healthcare-rtls
(although I guess this needs special drivers that support monitor mode). I also wonder if something like this could also be done:
http://news.mit.edu/2013/new-system-uses-low-power-wi-fi-signal-to-track-moving-humans-0628.

The mics/camera/accelerometer/gyroscope could be used as sensors for many things, and one can collect LOTS of data, etc. For example, I just found this other weird use for the magnetic sensor:
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/428494/startup-uses-a-smartphone-compass-to-track-people-indoors/
https://vimeo.com/107898476
and I read months ago that geologists were using cheap phones to detect and collect data on earthquakes:
http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4189

On a related note, I learned a while ago that in android phones, the headphone jack can be used as a serial port:
https://web.archive.org/web/20130608093900/http://robots-everywhere.com/re_wiki/index.php?title=Serial_on_Android_using_the_audio_port
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=re.serialout
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfSSPTtacnk

So yeah, you don't even need to disassemble the phones... and the cheapest (new) android phones cost less than $50. Imagine buying lots of these phones, used, for $5 each. Much better than buying Raspberry Pis, IMO...

Are there groups/forums dedicated to this?

I made this thread because I really wonder if I could take advantage of the cheap hardware to get out of my shitty situation.

Basically because of the limited I/O and API, you are focussing on software solutions, namely writing Apps. So you'd be better off writing apps instead of providing a shitty Android phone and software as a surveillance package.

>>917904
Most apps are already there, for free. even if they are paid, most of the time you can find some similar open-source app.. so, IMO, that's not even a problem. the problem is finding a use for the phones that make them profitable.


>Electronic hardware hacking/recycling general, I suppose...
BTW, one can also install linux (openwrt) on cheap TP-Link routers, and use them for anything. I can magine that having a cheap but powerful wireless router connected to a cheap but powerful ARM CPU (even an android phone) can have lots of uses, e.g., a web server for small companies (restaurants, hotels, ...) that can be completely managed and used locally.

>>917911
>a web server for small companies (restaurants, hotels, ...) that can be completely managed and used locally.
I call this "the anti-cloud" :P
The problem would be managing these servers, though...
Also, there are cheap x86 CPUs, too, so no need to use ARM at all. Hell, some NAS systems have powerful CPUs. One could hack them and use them as local web servers, no need to buy extra stuff if people already have good hardware.

>>917911
Since most Apps are already there, what exactly are you offering to the market? Any dunce can buy a $50 phone, install an app and put you out of business then.

My point is that if you want to use Android phones to make money, creating your own software is the way to go, not packaging different bits and pieces to sell.

>>917944
>Since most Apps are already there, what exactly are you offering to the market?
I'd be the one repurposing the phones, and selling them as products/services. The point is to sell the hardware as a solution to a problem, not just the app.

>Any dunce can buy a $50 phone, install an app and put you out of business then.
While most people don't know or care, some people may know that the tech is there (for example, lots of people know that android uses linux, but few people know what this really means in practical terms. same for hardware features). Even in the latter case, there is a difference between knowing that you can do something, and actually using the tech.
Of course, if making an app is what I would need, I'd do it...

What I thought of doing is: buy cheap, old or broken, but functional, phones, repurpose them for some specialized use, and sell them. if possible, mass produce these repurposed systems (e.g., if you need lots of sensors).

>My point is that if you want to use Android phones to make money, creating your own software is the way to go, not packaging different bits and pieces to sell.
AFAIU, it's very difficult to make money off apps these days...

I'd probably build a robotic vehicle of some sort out of it. Newer smartphones are fast enough to do a respectable amount of image processing, which is no small feat.
http://www.auvsi-seafarer.org/documents/2014Documents/papers/ERAU-Androne.JP%20-%20SUAS%202014%20-%20ERAU%20Androne.pdf
>>917898
>One can connect the phones in a network, through USB
Or you could even just use the built-in wifi. So many options.
>On a related note, I learned a while ago that in android phones, the headphone jack can be used as a serial port
>>917904
>I/O
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12633
>API
A rooted phone opens up quite a bit of options on this front.
>So you'd be better off writing apps instead of providing a shitty Android phone and software as a surveillance package.
Eh... not really. People realistically aren't going to use their own personal cell phones for this sort of stuff. And while they may have one or two old ones laying around which they could simply install an app on, you'd still be limited only to the phone's own internal hardware and you'd need to develop the app to be compatible with several different types of phones, with associated differences in hardware. Buying, modifying and reselling secondhand phones opens up the option of adding external hardware and sticking with a specific model of phone (with the associated hardware) to simplify development and eliminate hardware compatibility issues.

So, has anyone seen/made other cool things with android phones?

>>917961
>http://www.auvsi-seafarer.org/documents/2014Documents/papers/ERAU-Androne.JP%20-%20SUAS%202014%20-%20ERAU%20Androne.pdf
Finally could find a video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1al1YXbY28
I assume this is the one using the phone camera. IMO, the image looks good enough, and the phone itself can be used to locate targets, which is really nice.

It's a very exciting time for microcontroller projects controlled with mobile devices. There are many hardware interfacing apps for arduino, raspberry pi, esp8266, and many others in the play store.

This one is particularly interesting to me.
http://www.blynk.cc

Great thread, OP.